


In A Dark Theater

by Arwen88



Series: Ten Commandments - and how they didn't care [2]
Category: Band of Brothers
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Hand Jobs, Kissing, M/M, Oral Sex, Voyeurism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-09
Updated: 2020-03-09
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:33:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23074018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arwen88/pseuds/Arwen88
Summary: There was something comforting in the darkness that filled the theater where the whole regiment went to watch movies. It was one big building just like the barracks, but filled with chairs pushed one against the other to have all of them fit inside.Sometimes the smell and the warmth could become suffocating, what with every window and door closed to not disturb the projector from showing the pictures on the screen, and what with so many men piled up inside to enjoy the occasional movie. It was a chance to stop thinking about their homes far away and a normal life that went on without them outside of camp.
Relationships: Eugene Roe/Frank Perconte, Eugene Roe/Others, Lewis Nixon/Richard Winters, Skip Muck/Alex Penkala
Series: Ten Commandments - and how they didn't care [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1655272
Comments: 2
Kudos: 24
Collections: Loose Lips Sink Ships Prompt Meme





	In A Dark Theater

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Cowt 10, prompt "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour", and for the LLSS meme, prompt "Voyeurism in a dark theatre as others get at it"
> 
> Thanks to Thrill for betareading this! <3

There was something comforting in the darkness that filled the theater where the whole regiment went to watch movies. It was one big building just like the barracks, but filled with chairs pushed one against the other to have all of them fit inside.

Sometimes the smell and the warmth could become suffocating, what with every window and door closed to not disturb the projector from showing the pictures on the screen, and what with so many men piled up inside to enjoy the occasional movie. It was a chance to stop thinking about their homes far away and a normal life that went on without them outside of camp.

But for many others those theater nights meant something different, something more: a chance to be who they were without anybody caring about them, the chance to sit in the back and look for some comfort while everybody around pretended not to look, not to care about something that could have meant a blue ticket home and their reputation destroyed.

Eugene had understood early on that he couldn't just go and try to make friends like other enlisted men did, not with the knowledge that their lives depended on him. As soon as the reality of what a medic's life was going to be out on the line hit him, he had known that he couldn't afford to be too close to the very men he would have to save.

Becoming their friends would only mean a broken heart down the line.

As his grandma would alway say, there's only so much one can break their heart before they can’t take it anymore.

He had seen how hurt she was when she couldn't do much for the wounded, ill people she would be called to take care of, and he had understood in his early years already that that was the reason she would sometimes go without smiling for days, weeks.

It had been a choice not to bond too tightly with the others, something he could see reflected in the behaviour of some officers like Winters, people that understood why not to get too close to the guys under your care.

And for this Eugene respected them.

It didn't change the loneliness that followed him every step of the way during training, during the classes and the meals in the mess, when everybody would nod at him with respect, sometimes even try include him in a conversation, but nobody would ask him if he wanted to follow them to town for a beer.

Or even walk back with him to the barracks.

Eugene felt lonely, and cold, and with the passing time he was afraid it would all fall on top of him crushing him down.

The only place where he felt he could forget all of it for at least a couple hours was the dark theater, with the pictures loud and bright up front, with the guys staring ahead and nobody caring truly about who sat where, who was there in the back, what they were doing. It was an unspoken rule, the one of not looking at ranks and tags when in there, to not speak about what one saw there, and in that rule Eugene felt relieved.

Eugene entered the theater with his hands in his pockets, already feeling the adrenaline run in his veins at the prospect of what would happen. He briefly looked around the already half full room before he moved to the side to go sit in one of the rows in the back.

A little anxious, the fear of an MP walking in and somehow deciding to target him always making him a bit nervous, he lit up a cigarette and sat back, waiting for more people to arrive, for the lights to go out and the picture to start.

Eugene relaxed against the backrest when the theater filled up and he found himself surrounded by others, people sitting so close their thighs and knees were touching. Eugene was never sure if he liked the scent of all those bodies together or not, even if he had smelled far worse during the classes at the hospital.

But it was reassuring somehow, to know he was not alone and that that somehow gave him even more anonymity.

He kept smoking slowly, dragging his cigarette until the lights went out and they started the movie.

Like every time, the chatter quieted down almost instantly. There was no way to silence the buzz completely, but nobody even tried, just tried to focus on the loud dialogue and music on screen.

It was the perfect cover for those noises that Eugene would soon raise out in the back of the place.

He glanced sideways at the rest of his row, starting to feel the anticipation mount up in him, his stomach flipping and doing strange things at knowing he was there once more, about to freely do something he wouldn't have been allowed to do anywhere else.

It wasn't long until he noticed the first movements at the edge of his peripheral vision, and Eugene turned just a touch towards it, just enough to be able to follow what was happening without being too obvious.

Eugene watched as a guy started unbuttoning the pants of the man sitting beside him, only for the second guy to reach out and start reciprocating, neither taking their eyes off the screen in front of them.

More than once, Eugene had wished to be able to have something like that, someone that would just sit beside him and decide he was attractive enough to touch, to pleasure him without asking or saying a word. He had gotten close to it at least a couple times. One night he had managed to set aside all his fears of terrible repercussions and had started touching himself only for the guy beside him to throw him a look of appreciation and do the same beside him.

They had spent a long time staring at each other's cocks and jerking off, and Eugene had never crossed path with that man again while in camp. He still wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

Then there had been the guy that had just reached out and started caressing Eugene’s thigh, his big hand moving up and finally over his crotch, groping him in silence.

Eugene had dreamed about that night often since then, but he had never found the courage to do more than that, to be the one starting that kind of contact. Somehow, instead, he had found a way to just sit beside other couples and have the chance to watch them. Sometimes he touched himself in the meantime, either jerking off or just massaging himself from above the uniform.

That night Eugene found himself glancing at the couple down the row that started slowly jerking each other off, at least until his attention was caught by a guy right in front of him passing one arm around the shoulders of the man seated beside him, nonchalantly over the back of the seat. It wasn't long before the guy wrapped his arm more securely around the other man and gently nudged him into leaning forward.

It wasn't until one of them turned a bit that Eugene was able to recognize his profile, and since where there was Muck there was also Penkala, it wasn't difficult to understand who the guy nudging him was despite the fact that Penkala was facing away.

Eugene licked his lips instinctively when Muck brushed his lips over Penkala's before leaning down in front of Penkala.

Eugene shifted on his seat, leaning to his right to try and peek from above Penkala's shoulder, growing hard quickly when he caught the sound of a mouth unequivocally at work. Eugene swallowed, excited, and watched on as Penkala threw his head back with a deep sigh, his fingers carded in Muck's hair as his friend took care of him.

Eugene bit his lip, aroused, and started unbuttoning his pants to take himself in hand. He slowly started stroking himself as he watched the light move over Muck's hair as the man bobbed his head up and down.

With all the people inside the place it was difficult for Eugene to always recognize the people he saw there, but somehow knowing exactly who the two guys pleasuring each other in front of him were gave him a shiver.

He knew there was power in knowing, in being theoretically able to ruin the others' lives, but just the same he knew he would never testify to witnessing such acts. He would have never done such a thing to another man, even if a complete stranger.

He was surprised out of his thoughts by a hand reaching out to graze at his thigh, and for a moment Eugene held his breath before he threw a glance at Perconte sitting by his side, relaxing somewhat at noticing the open interest with which he stared at Eugene’s cock.

Eugene flushed red, hard in his hold, but when Perconte glanced up at his face, Eugene gave the slightest nod and licked his lips, moving his hand away as Perconte let his hand roam from Eugene's thigh to his cock, gently taking a hold of it.

Eugene was left breathless for a moment, his whole body going haywire at being touched by another guy for once like he had usually only witnessed done to the others. The moment he had to bite his bottom lip to stifle a moan Eugene came back to his senses and he hurried to reach out, even if he hesitated for a moment, his hand hovering over Perconte's crotch without touching him yet.

He needed the encouragement of Perconte's grin to go on, to start unbuttoning him and touching the hard cock still trapped in his underwear.

It was all new, and Eugene could barely think, excited at being finally touched and stroked like the others, but he forced himself to start touching Perconte, to pull his cock free of his clothes and wrap his fingers around the girth to start returning the pleasure.

He shivered at seeing Perconte briefly close his eyes at his touch, and he felt his cock twitch in the other's hold.

He licked his lips and forced himself to look away, jerking Perconte off while Perconte touched him in return, apparently set on making Eugene come, but instead of watching the screen and the movie he had completely forgotten about, Eugene found himself focusing more on the couple in front of them. Muck was still sucking Penkala off, and Eugene couldn't help but wonder if there could be another place in camp to do such things. Maybe someplace where one could truly watch the man they were pleasuring instead of hiding and peeking at others in the darkness like a creep.

Eugene gasped when Perconte suddenly wrapped his fingers more tightly around the head of his cock, and he snapped his gaze back to the man. His face flushed, Eugene couldn't understand how Perconte could just stare ahead like nothing was happening, like he was doing nothing out of the ordinary.

Eugene tried to jerk him off faster then, enough to make the man close his eyes once more, and it was with a bout of pride that Eugene watched at the man start to actually show he was affected by what Eugene was doing him.

With someone finally touching him like Eugene had wanted for so long, it wasn't long before he found himself close to the edge. He pressed his lips, desperately trying to stifle the little sounds of pleasure that threatened to escape him, at least until the orgasm finally rolled over him, leaving Eugene breathless and boneless. He barely noticed how Perconte was focusing on the head of his cock, and he closed his eyes for a few long seconds, lost in the afterglow, at least until he felt Perconte's fingers wrap around Eugene's own, guiding him into going back to pleasuring him, and Eugene felt a flush of embarrassment and guilt at having stopped when the pleasure had hit him hard.

But Perconte didn't seem about to complain, a little satisfied smirk on his face as he watched Eugene with his head slightly tilted and lead Eugene into giving him an orgasm.

Eugene stared at him, the couple in front of him forgotten for the moment, at least until Penkala groaned entirely too loud. Eugene snapped his gaze to him, surprised and alarmed, only to see Muck lean back abruptly, looking at Penkala with just as much surprise and one hand pressed over his mouth.

Eugene felt a flush rise to his cheeks in embarrassment for the two, quite certain of the reason Penkala had being unable to hold back and why Muck was now swallowing behind his own hand, a look of utter embarrassment on his face as he glanced around to check if anybody was looking at them. Eugene stilled when their eyes met, and he hurried to look away, just in time to see Perconte shaking beside him, his free hand pressed to his lips to stifle his laughter.

Eugene rolled his eyes, all the arousal gone, and tucked himself in with a deep sigh.

He had expected Perconte to have completely forgotten about him, and so he was quite surprised when the man reached out as soon as Gene had finished buttoning up his pants to gently take his hand once more and lead it again to his cock.

Eugene looked at him for a moment, but then at the expectant look on Perconte's face, he went back to jerking him off, kind of pleased at knowing the man did like him better than just giving himself an hand job, no matter if he had been laughing up until a moment later.

And yet, when Perconte spilled between his fingers, Eugene couldn't hold back a frown, not liking that he would have to use his handkerchief to clean up. For a moment, he reconsidered the pros and cons of actually touching others beyond just watching.

But as the movie proceeded and the little noisy incident seemed to be forgotten, Eugene had to consider that maybe there was something he was missing in a partner, at least judging by the eagerness with which Penkala just leaned down to return the favor Muck had done for him.

***

Eugene nervously sucked the cigarette pressed between his lips. He was a little pissed off at himself for taking so long to figure out the reason he had felt put out since the last time in the theater.

It had taken him entirely too long to understand it was witnessing Penkala and Muck walk close across camp, their shoulders brushing together as they talked nonstop, clearly the best of friends to anybody who looked in their direction. He knew there was more than simple friendship between them, and since then he had been upset, almost angry at himself for his fear that there was something wrong with him.

It wasn't until he saw the two of them sit one beside the other in the theater the week after he had seen them sexually touch each other that he finally understood he was jealous. Not specifically about one of the two, or of their relationship, as much as jealous and saddened for the fact that he had no one who cared so much about him.

It was more than knowing he wasn't as attractive or interesting to one of the other boys, hadn’t been in the months of sitting there between them without anyone trying to get from him more than a grope, let alone put his mouth on them. It was more than knowing he would have been the first to not want to get too close to somebody for the fear of seeing them die under his hands. It was a gnawing feeling in the pit of his stomach at knowing that there was something that went deeper than a couple touches and one hand wrapped around his cock in a dark theater that he would probably never find.

It was the loneliness catching up with him, the fear of spending the rest of his life alone if he were to survive the war.

He was shaken out of his thoughts when he noticed the officers entering the theater, looking around to see where they could sit, and Eugene shifted on his seat, uneasy and tense when they saw the free chairs beside him and moved in his direction with a couple little smiles on their faces.

“Eugene,” Dick nodded at him before they moved in front of him to sit just by his side, Nixon just nodding at him as he followed and took the chair on the other side of Dick.

“Uh, Lieutenants.” He nodded back, always unsure how to greet back the officers when they called him by name.

He cleared his throat, trying not to look uneasy despite the two of them sitting beside him when he had thought he could spend another night relieving himself of some stress.

In ordinary circumstances he wouldn’t have minded staying close to them, Dick being the one officer they had always felt really cared about them all, fair and good at teaching them, and Nixon the man’s best friend, a bright man that they had been a bit upset to see transfer from Easy Company to Battalion staff. Not that the change in position had done anything to separate the two: everybody knew where there was Winters you could find Nixon.

And yet, for how fair they were, Eugene knew the two wouldn’t ignore such a blatant disrespect of the law. He swallowed, hoping the others sitting in the rows in front of them would notice their presence too and not start getting down to it as soon as the lights went out.

Eugene felt a wave of dread fill him when, barely ten minutes in, a couple guys to his right started touching each other.

He almost stopped breathing, his heart thumping in his chest as he prayed to God that the two officers wouldn't notice them. He started sweating cold when the guy sitting right in front of him wrapped one arm around the shoulders of the one sitting beside him, and the two bent their heads together, talking softly and - if Eugene had guessed right - starting to undo each other's pants.

Eugene scrunched his eyes closed, fearing the moment Dick would tell the men to stop and exit the tent, the moment the officers were going to see who was doing something illegal and the last place Eugene had considered a safe haven would be transformed forever.

When he dared open his eyes once more, Eugene stared at the shoulders of the big guy in front of him, and barely managed to inhale before he threw a glance towards Dick and Nixon to see if they had noticed the activities going on around them.

What he saw made Eugene stare in disbelief at the two men, his jaw slack as he witnessed Lieutenant Nixon quite intent on making out with Lieutenant Winters.

Eugene stared at them in complete shock, blinking stupidly as he tilted his head to get a better look, still disbelieving that they were truly making out. But there they were, Nixon with one hand on Dick's face, cupping his cheek as they kissed with a passion, pressed as close as the seats would let them get.

Eugene watched on as they broke apart only to share lighter kisses, tilting their heads in the opposite direction before getting back to it again.

Eugene started smiling, filled by a wave of sweet relief, and he watched Dick reach out to caress Nixon's face in return. He felt happy to know that such a great man, one that would always take care of everybody around him, had someone he could be loving with.

And Nixon had always seemed ready to stay close to Dick, often the only one that managed to make the man smile at least a bit when Sobel was down to his shitty behaviour once more.

Eugene threw a glance around, trying to see if he was the only one staring at the two men, and felt better at seeing that everybody was still minding their own business. Not that that helped him distract himself from what the men were doing by his side.

Despite the guy to his right jerking off, Eugene kind of felt that the two making out beside him were involved in something even more intimate.

Eugene couldn't explain even to himself why he was feeling so happy just at knowing the two were so taken by each other, at least until he heard the soft whisper from Nixon during a sudden lull in the movie sounds.

"Love you."

Eugene held his breath, his eyes open wide as he stared straight ahead despite the need to turn and make sure that the man was truly speaking to Dick. He tried focusing on them even more, and was rewarded for it when he was able to hear Dick softly return the words to the other. Eugene felt a clench in his chest at that, and for a moment he felt a burning sensation grow behind his eyes. He had to raise his eyes to avoid spilling tears as he was filled by an overwhelming surge of protectiveness for the two men sitting beside him.

Despite all the times he had doubted he could find himself someone that would care about him, despite all the fears that he would have to spend his life by himself, somehow hearing and knowing that the two men had found love in each other felt like the best thing that had happened to him in a long time. It was proof that he too could find somebody for himself at some point.

Eugene tried to play it cool and not let his emotions show on his face as the time passed and the two officers stopped kissing only to sit even closer, Dick with his back practically against Nixon's side, comfortably watching the movie with Nixon’s arm around his shoulders and their fingers entwined over Nixon's thigh.

When the lights were turned on once more everything was back to normal, every uniform perfectly buttoned up, every man looking just happy and relaxed as they should be after watching a new movie. But for once Eugene couldn't shake off his smile as he followed everybody to the doors, happy with his newfound knowledge and the hope in his heart as he watched Winters and Nixon walk away together, falling in step together with their shoulders brushing.


End file.
